LSU head coach Brian Kelly had his ‘Welcome to LSU’ moment on Tuesday.
Prior to the start of his press conference on Tuesday, Kelly called out a reporter for arriving late to the media availability. The reporter didn’t take the jab on the chin and fired back at Kelly with a mean left hook.
Just before Kelly opened his press conference to questions, he made a reference to The (Baton Rouge) Advocate’s Leah Vann, who had just arrived, for not being on time, although he did not identify her by name. He said he was fining Vann $10 and that the money would go toward a postseason bash.
Vann’s response? “Maybe if you win, I’ll be on time.” Kelly’s Tigers are, of course, coming off a 24-23 loss to LSU on Sunday night that left the $90 million coach open for more criticism in his first season after leaving Notre Dame.
Kelly, not looking pleased, responded: “I don’t think it has anything to do with winning. I think it has to do with being on time.”
Here’s the clip:
Vann addressed her comment by posting a Twitter thread after the availability. She said that she apologized to Kelly for her retort.
“Not my finest hour,” she wrote.
Kelly’s LSU tenure got off to a rough start and things haven’t gotten much better. First, the Boston native was ripped for using a bad Southern accent in his first speech to a crowd as Tigers coach. Soon after that, he took part in a bizarre hype video with a recruit who ended up committing to Alabama. That was all long before Week 1.
Then, in his Tigers debut, Florida State blocked a potential game-tying PAT kick with no time remaining. Kelly explained why he went for one and overtime rather than two and the win in regulation.
The fans’ tolerance for Kelly won’t last long if the Tigers lose more games like their opener. Then it won’t just be the media calling him out for not winning.
